linger



(No Model.) 2 Sheets- -Sheet 1.

W. H. LINGER. SPRING BED BOTTOM.

No. 557,839. Patented Apr. 7,1896.

ANDREW EGIMIAM PHO'IOUMCLWASHNFI'DRJ Cv {No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. H. LINGER. SPRING BED BOTTOM.

Patented Apr. 7, 1-896.

IEQX.

ANDREW E cnAnAMJnGTGUn'QWASNIHGYON D C UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM II. LINGER, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICTOF COLUMBIA.

SPRING BED-BOTTOM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,839, dated April '7, 1896.

Application filed February 15,1896. Serial No. 579,373. (No modelJ T 0 all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. LINGER, citizen of the United States, and a resident of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Iniprovemcnts in Spring Bed-Bottoms, of which the following is a specification.

My invent-ion relates more particularly to an auxiliary or supplemental supportingspring adapted for use in connection with woven-wire bed-bottoms in order to sustain the latter at or about the middle, where there is the greatest weight when in use, and consequently where the most stretching or sag ging takes place, the object being either to prevent such stretching or sagging or to counteract the ill effect of the same after it has taken place.

My invention is of particular value in connection with the woven-wire bottoms of iron bedsteads, upon which the wire is usually permanently fixed without convenient and effectual means for taking up the slack.

In carrying out my invention I employ constructions which make the attachment readily applicable to or removable from the bedstead, it being essentially a separate device therefrom; and in order that the attachment may be applicable to different makes of beds,which may not run uniform in size, and also to make one attachment applicable to different sizes of beds, my invention involves novel details of construction whereby the attachment may be passed up in place from below and may be expanded or contracted, so as to fit neatly in place on different-sized bedsteads.

My invention consists in features of novelty to be hereinafter particularly pointed out in the claims, and which will now be fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure I is a plan illustrating the application of the simplest form of my invention and its adjustment to different widths of bedsteads. Fig. II is a transverse section of the same. Fig. III is a view similar to Fig. II, illustrating a modified form of the supporting bars and hangers which rest transversely upon the bedstead. Figs. IV and V represent by transverse sections a further modification in the hanger and the manner of manipulating the same. Fig. V1 is a view similar to Fig. I, illustrating a modification of the attachment and its application to different widths of bedsteads. Fig. VII is a transverse section through Fig. VI. Fig. VIII is a still further modification of the said supporting bars and hangers. Fig. IX is a view representing a simple form of the attachment shown in Fig. I folded for shipment. Fig. X is a view representing the form of attachment shown in Fig. VI folded for shipment.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the side rail of an iron or other bedstead of approximately four feet in width, while 1 represents by dotted lines the rails of a smaller bedstead. Each of these is assumed to be permanently supplied with woven-wire bottom 2.

3 represents the main supporting-bars, which have hangers 5 formed integrally with them or attached to them by pivots 7, by means of which hangers the said bars 3 are permitted to rest transversely upon the side railsat or about the middle of the bedstead.

If hangers 5 are formed integrally, as shown in Figs. I, II, III, and IX, said hangers are provided with the extensions 5 at such an angle that they retain the hangers bearing on the side rail when the bars assume diagonal position, the whole frame being held rigid and the hangers prevented from displacement from the side rails by the pressure of the coilsprings beneath the woven Wire.

The main supporting-bars 3 are spaced apart and fixed in parallel relation by means of cross-pieces 4, which may be pivoted to aitord adjustability to bedsteads of different widths and to permit of folding for shipment, as shown in Fig. IX. Upon the bars 3 are mounted coil-sprin gs 6, which project upward beneath the woven wire 2 and offer additional support thereto, for the purpose hereinbefore explained.

IVhen it is desired to apply the attachment to a bed narrower than the combined length of the bars 3 and hangers 5, the said bars 3 are set at an angle shown by dotted lines in Figs. I and VI, and when the hangers 5, with or without the lip 5, are used in conjunction with the bars 3 the pivotal attachment 7 permits the hangers 5 to remain normal to the side rails l in order to support the entire auxiliary spring-frame. If desired, the crossbars a may be formed with joints 8, pivoted, respectively, at 9 and 10 on the supportingbars 3, as shown in Fig. VI, so as to enable the auxiliary frame to be folded for shipment, as illustrated in Fig. X.

If it should be desired to provide for setting the attachment in place without resorting to the paralleling or collapsing feature permitted by the pivots 9 and 10, the hangers 5 may be constructed, as shown in Figs. III and VIII, with the addition of offsets 11, so that when the attachment is to be put in place one end is first passed above the side rail 1 of the bedstead and rested upon the offset 11, so that the other hanger 5 is then permitted to pass up inside of the opposite side rail, after which the whole attachment is shifted endwise and the engaging portions of the hangers 5 drop into place over their proper side rails; or, as shown in Figs. IV and V, the upper horizontal portion of said hanger is ex tended, so as to allow of the requisite lateral movement, as in Fig. IV, when putting the auxiliary spring attachment in place, and a shoulder 5 is provided on each hanger to drop into engagement with the side rails, as in Fig. V, when the attachment is in place and prevent further lateral movement. As shown in Figs. VII and VIII, the hangers 5 may be provided with downturned lips 5, which grip the side rails, thus preventing possibility of disengaging and permitting the bars 3 to be made very much lighter and support the load which is put upon them by tension rather than transverse rigidity, as is the case where the hanger 5 simply rests upon the top of the side bars.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that I have provided an effective device applicable by the user to any bedstead either for the purpose of effectually preventing or counteracting the sagging of the wovenwire bottom, and that the device is both simple in construction and cheap in manufacture.

Having thus described my invention, the

following is what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An auxiliary spring attachment for bedbottoms comprising a plurality of main supporting-bars 3 having at their ends means for supporting them transversely of the bedstead, and the cross-bars pivotally secured to the said bars 3 and thereby adapting the attachment to adjust itself to various widths of bed steads, by assuming diagonal relation to the side rails as explained.

2. In an auxiliary spring attachment for bed-bottoms, the combination of the supporting-bars 3 secured together in parallel relation by cross-bars & and permitted to perform the parallel movement described, and the hangers 5 pivoted substantially as shown in order to permit them to retain their normal relation to the side rails of the bedstead when the supporting-bars 3 and the cross-bars 4 are adjusted in an angular position, substantially as herein set forth.

8. In an auxiliary spring attachment of substantially the character herein described, the combination of the bars 3 having suitable means for supporting them on the bed and the cross-bars at pivoted to said supportingbars and permitting them to perform the parallel movement for adjusting the attachment to different widths of bedsteads as explained; said cross-bars being also jointed and permitting the supporting-bars to fold against each other, substantially as herein shown and described.

i. In combination with an auxiliary spring attachment for beds, substantially as herein described, the supporting hangers formed with the offsets which permit lateral movement of said hangers on the side rails and allow the attachment to be inserted beneath the woven wire after the latter is in place, as explained.

VILLIAM II. LINGER.

Vitnesses:

'JNO. E. Barns,

C. IV. SCHNEIDER. 

